


You Gotta Live a Little

by narwhalmeg



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-03
Updated: 2012-07-15
Packaged: 2017-11-09 02:08:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/450078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narwhalmeg/pseuds/narwhalmeg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Gabriel is the host of a prank show, Dean wants to get Sam back for being a tight ass and gets him on the show. But no matter what Gabriel does Sam seems to have the upper hand and all his pranks seem to fail but he doesn’t give up! Will Gabriel ever gain the upper hand and prank Sam? Or does this turn into so much more? And is it just me or is Dean totally hitting on Gabriel’s gay intern Castiel?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Well that's our show. Three guys, three pranks, three million people laughing back at home. I'm the Trickster, and let's hope you're not the next poor sap who gets onto this show. Until next time, stay classy."

Just as Dean reached for the remote to turn off the tv, Sam stalked in the front door. It's not as if he didn't expect his brother to be all grumbly when he walked in, no he's always like this. He was just sick and tired of it- he's the one who chose to go to law school for eight fricken' years. Dean just didn't understand it, why would you go to school when you had the option to not go to school. He has a steady job at Uncle Bobby's garage, so he doesn't see the need to do any more work.

"Heya, Sammy. Why dontcha come sit down, drink a beer? Justice is on next again. New episode, I heard they're planning on shaving some guys head this week." The thought alone had him grinning at the memory of their prank wars when they were younger- Dean had played a particularly brilliant prank where he replaced Sam's shampoo with Nair and made him bald for months.

Unfortunately it had the opposite effect on Sam and he just scowled at his brother before walking into the bedroom, clutching his briefcase, mumbling something about "work" and "no time" and "killjoy." Okay, so maybe he hadn't said the last one, but he was definitely acting like one.

Halfway through the night's second episode of Justice, Dean had an idea. The show was for up-tight sons of bitches who need to be taught to relax, right? Well that description fit Sammy to a T. So why not get him on the show? Maybe he'll finally learn how to have fun for once. He called the number that flashed on screen at the end of the show and gave the people on the line a description of his brother. After only a few minutes, his call was redirected and he was put on the line with none other than the Trickster himself.

"So I hear you got an innocent tight-ass waiting to be loosened up?"

Dean smirked and told him all about Sammy, how he never goes out, how he never drinks or parties, how he hasn't even had a girlfriend in over five years. Hell, he hasn't even been laid yet! Dean had that covered in the seventh grade. The kid had a hell of a lot of learning to do, and lucky for him, the Trickster was all too willing to help.

\---

Gabriel, or the Trickster rather, lived for these moments- the moments in which he met with the people he'd be pranking a few days afterwards, not expecting a thing until the moment they've been tricked. He'd talked to a very nice man the day before, about a guy who could definitely use a prank or two, and was slipped a hint, that the man made a visit to the same coffee shop, at the same time every day, getting the same thing, even sitting at the same table. So here he was, in that very same coffee shop, looking for the man he was to be dishing out justice to.

The description he had been given was "tall, shaggy haired, and lanky." He couldn't really tell height too well, given that all of the customers were sitting down; but if the long, dangly legs cramped underneath the table were anything to go by, he'd assume that the man surrounded by papers spread all over his table was his guy. The first thing Gabriel noticed was how attractive the man was. He wasn't afraid to admit it. Okay, he may be a little bit gay, but come on, who isn't? And this man here? He could make even a straight man whip his head around for a second look. He smirked to himself; oh this is going to be fun.

Lucky for him it seemed like this café was extremely popular, and very busy, seeing as every single table was full. Even better, it made his job a hell of a lot easier. He went up to the counter and ordered a coffee with extra cream and sugar. He impatiently tapped his foot and whistled a low tune, earning himself a glare from the cashier. He just shrugged off the look and handed over the money for his coffee- which was more like dessert than a drink.

"Hiya, kiddo. You mind if I sit here? All the other tables are full." He gestured to the crowded room for full effect. The man simply blinked up at him for a few seconds before seemingly coming to his senses and looking down, cheeks tinted. Gabriel bit back a smirk.

"Sure, just let me move my things." He started to gather all his papers as Gabriel plopped down into the booth opposite him, knees almost touching. He held out his hand.

"I'm Gabriel. You are?" The man looked at his hand for a moment before reaching his out to shake. Gabriel couldn't help but notice how small his own hand seemed in comparison.

"I'm Sam. Winchester." Sam. Gabriel turned the name over in his head a few times, trying to tell his brain to remember this one.

Gabriel hadn't realized he'd been staring until Sam raised an eyebrow. He returned the gesture by arching his eyebrow up even higher. They had an intense staring contest for a few moments before Sam flushed slightly, looking down again. He seemed to do that a lot. Gabriel smirked in victory and plowed on.

"So what do you do for a living, Sammy boy?"

"Well, I'm in school to be a lawyer. I'm only in my fifth year, so I got three more years to go, but it's hell man. I don't know why I ever chose this." Sam ran a distracted hand through his hair, trying to tame it, but it ended up only making it messier. For a moment, Gabriel almost felt bad for the man, until he realized that in two days time he'd be pranking this guy, making his life even more of a living hell. Then he'd really feel bad for the poor kid. Usually, he was only pranking stuck-up kids who think they're too good for everyone, unlike Sam.

But he managed to push that unpleasant thought back, and was already thinking of methods, locations, and supplies needed to pull the perfect prank on Sam.

"Ouch, sorry about that. I never went to college, so I have no idea how you feel. But I haven't been to school in over seven years, and if what you're feeling now is anything like how I'd feel if I suddenly had to go to school, you may as well off yourself now." He placed one hand behind his head and leaned back, sipping his drink. To his surprise, Sam cracked an adorable smile. Gabriel noticed he had dimples; he liked dimples. He liked them very much.

"Yeah, thanks. Real encouraging to hear. Thanks a lot… Gabriel, was it?"

"Yup. And no problem, I'll be here all week if you want any more positive encouragement." He smirked, briefly flicking up his eyebrows, just before taking another sip of his coffee-turned-sundae. Sam looked up and promptly snorted in a way that absolutely should not have been cute. Gabriel just stared at him, face probably showing his confusion, until Sam had stopped snickering long enough to answer his questioning look.

"Your… your lip." He eventually managed to gasp out, pointing at his upper lip. Frowning, Gabriel reached to wipe the back of his hand across his lip, touching something wet and foamy as he did. When he pulled his hand back he noticed that some of the whipped cream from his coffee came back with it. He'd given himself a whipped cream mustache.

He couldn't help it; he laughed too. The kid's laugh was infectious. It wasn't really that funny, but Sam looked like he needed a laugh, so he let him. He didn't seem too much like the man that had been described to him over the phone, however. He was told he hadn't laughed, hadn't even cracked a smile in days. Yet here Gabriel was, making him smile, easy as pie.

Well, until he left. As Gabriel started to get up, thanking Sam for the company, he saw his eyes get duller. All laughter left him as he hesitantly waved and said goodbye. Looking over his shoulder on his way out the door, he saw Sam sigh and type lethargically on his keyboard, rearranging the papers back over the table. His back was hunched and his shoulders slouched. This kid needed to loosen up, bad, and Gabriel was going to make sure of it.

\---

Sam was still scowling at his laptop; in fact, he'd been doing so for the past ten minutes. He was completely at a loss with his paper. For the millionth time, he wondered why the hell he'd decided to try and become a lawyer in the first place. Even on a good day, he barely was able to get a moments rest.

Closing his eyes, Sam rolled his shoulders and allowed himself to relax for a moment. He thought back to the adjective morning at the coffee house a few days ago, where he had met Gabriel. He didn't know what it was about the man, but he made the air around Sam feel lighter. He had just started to get lost in thoughts of gold eyes when-

"Funny seeing you here again." An amused voice broke through his reverie.

Sam immediately straightened and turned to face the intruder, going slightly pink around the ears when he saw the same gold eyes he had just been dreaming of. He really needed to stop blushing around this guy.

"Yeah, I come here every day. Helps me think." He fought to keep his voice calm as Gabriel plopped into the seat across from him, as if this was something that happened every day.

"Think about what, Sammy?" Gabriel replied easily. Sam was surprised, and secretly pleased that Gabriel remembered his name, so much so, that he didn't even notice the use of the nickname.

"You know, just... things." Sam went pink again, when he remembered exactly what he had been thinking of this morning.

Gabriel gave a smirk at that, but didn't question further. Sam took this as an opportunity to question Gabriel in turn.

"So, why are you here? I hadn't seen you here before the other day."

"Good coffee, nice area, cute patrons. What's not to like?" Damn it, there he goes again, blushing like a teenage girl. He really had to stop that.

"But really kiddo, I only stopped by hoping to find you. You forgot something the other day." Gabriel just looked at him with a glint in his eye. Sam could have sworn he left after Gabriel did, so how could he have left something? He raised his eyebrow, but got no response other than a smug smile.

"Alright, I'll bite. What did I leave?"

"This." He pulled out a piece of paper and laid it on the table in front of Sam with a wink. "See ya' later Sammy." He gave one final smirk before getting up and quickly leaving the coffee shop. Sam was so busy staring after Gabriel, he almost forgot about the paper. He grabbed it and slowly unfolded it, not believing what he saw inside.

It was a phone number.

Sure, Sam had been given phone numbers before. But he'd never gotten one from anyone as interesting as Gabriel before. He'd usually gotten them from slutty women at bars, which brought up two problems. One, he wasn't really all that interested in women in the first place. Two, they were all the same- hit it and quit it, give you their number and if you call, great, if not, your loss. Now that he thought about it, Gabriel seemed sort of that type too. He didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing, but he was pretty sure he wanted to find out more about the guy.

Well, at least he knew he wasn't getting any more work done right now. With a small smile, he packed up his things and headed for the door, thoughts of golden eyes filling his head all through the day.

When Sam stepped inside the house, Dean hurriedly bid someone on the phone goodbye and threw the phone on the seat next to him on the couch. He was never one for subtlety. He threw Sam a quick glance before turning back to the TV as if nothing happened.

"Hey, Sammy. How was school?" Sam merely shrugged, and plopped down on the couch next to him.

"Fine, I guess. Normal." Dean stared at him for a moment while Sam raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Normal. Sam, normal for you is grumbling and slamming the door to your room. This, nu-uh. This is not normal." Sam shrugged again.

"I dunno what to tell you, Dean. Hey, who was on the phone?" Dean's eyes widened a bit as he stumbled for an answer.

"Uh… no one. No one important. Don't worry about it." But when he put it like that, how could Sam not worry about it?

"Come on, Dean. Who was it? Was it someone special? Girl or boy? What's their name? Come on, spill."

"No, Sam. It wasn't anyone special just… my friend asked me to go to the bar with him tonight. He said to invite you, too, said his cousin was in your Sociology class. Cas-something, some weird-ass name." Sam only had to think for a moment.

"Castiel? Oh yeah, I know him. He's pretty cool. Sure, I'll go. What time?" Sam looked at his brother to find him, once again, gaping like a fish. "Oh come on Dean, close your mouth. It's not attractive."

Dean snorted and threw a pillow at him, which Sam easily dodged.

"Bitch."

"Jerk." Sam smiled at the usual banter.

"Anyway, they said to meet them at nine. Unless, of course, you need your beauty sleep. I know how much you hate going to bed after 8." Sam retaliated with a flick to the ear.

"Ha ha, very funny. I'm gonna go get some work done in the mean time." As Sam walked to his room, he could've sworn he saw Dean pump the air with his fist out of the corner of his eye. He decided to ignore it for now.

When he sat down on his bed, he immediately went for the slip of paper in his pocket. Was it too early to call him? How about a text? Sam hadn't actually had a date in years, so he wasn't quite up to speed with the etiquette involved. And he sure as hell wasn't asking Dean for dating advice.

With a sigh, he decided to leave the call for later and try to actually work on his paper. That plan was quickly dashed as he fell asleep shortly after laying down with his laptop. He awoke with a start to Dean banging on the door.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. I'm leaving in five minutes with or without you." Sam groaned and blinked away the sleep as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He padded over to his closet, thanking the gods he wasn't like Dean, who took twenty minutes just to decide on a shirt to wear. He quickly got dressed and grabbed his phone before running out to the living room.

"Finally. Jesus Christ, I swear you could sleep through an atomic bomb." Dean continued mumbling all the way down to the car.

The car ride down to the bar was relatively uneventful, but full of Sam's questions about Dean's not-date. Sam was sure it really was a date, whatever Dean called it, he's just always had problems with relationships.

When they walked into the bar, Sam wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it sure wasn't Gabriel, sitting with Cas in a booth nearby. He just stared at him for a minute before Dean kindly reminded him to "Fucking move, damn it."

When they approached the booth Gabriel and Castiel were sitting in, Gabriel jumped up with a wide smile.

"Heeeeey, Sammy! And Dean-o! Come on, take a seat!"

Gabriel stepped aside to allow them to enter the booth- Dean slid in next to Castiel, leaving Sam to take the empty side. As soon as he sat down, Gabriel slid up next to him, closer than strictly necessary, and called over the waitress. And if their legs were maybe touching under the table, Sam sure wasn't gonna make Gabriel move.


	2. 2

Gabriel watched as the waitress, his old friend Pamela, brought over their drinks. She had marked Sam's with a blue straw ahead of time, while the others all had red. He had told her to add three teaspoons of chili powder to whatever drink Sam ordered, but to make sure that he knew the difference.

Yeah, it was a lame trick. But he had to start somewhere. Plus, he was a little hesitant to do anything major right now and lose whatever he had going on with Sam.

Pam set down the drinks gracefully, shooting a wink at Gabriel as she sauntered away. He wolf whistled at her retreating form, chuckling as Pamela dutifully ignored him. He felt Sam stiffen slightly next to him, and he felt a strange twinge of guilt. He thought he had rid himself of the feeling of guilt years ago. He shook off the unwanted sensation and reached for his drink- a very colorful pina colada.

"Dig in guys, drinks are on me." Dean grumbled as he reached to grab a mug from the center of the table.

He took the one with the blue straw.

Before Gabriel could warn him, Dean took a large swig of the liquid in front of him. Gabriel closed his eyes and braced himself for the impending explosion. It only took about half a second before Dean's eyes became impossibly wide, and started to water.

"Ow, fuck! Hot, hot, hot, holy shit why is this hot?" Dean yelled as he panted, trying to cool down his tongue.

The others seated at the table could do nothing other than watch as Dean had a literal meltdown. Castiel had his head tilted to the side, with a look of confusion and worry on his features, and Sam just looked amused. Gabriel looked at him with no small amount of pride. Even if the trick hadn't played out exactly how he had planned, it made Sam smile. He had made Sam do something that Gabriel was told he hadn't done in a long time- have fun.

Of course, that didn't mean he was going to stop trying to prank Sam. Oh no, he was just getting started.

But for now, Gabriel hauled Dean up by his collar and dragged him over to the bar and handed him a glass of water. One glass turned into five, and after Dean had downed the last glass, his face seemed to have transitioned from a furious shade of red to a light pink.

"What the hell, man! You could have fucking warned me!" Dean all but snarled and bared his teeth, but Gabriel stood his ground.

"I tried, remember? Twenty minutes ago! I told you, 'Hey Dean, blue isn't really your color.' But no, you were too busy having a staring contest with my cousin! Next time you wanna eye fuck him tell me and I'll leave the god damned room first."

Dean bristled, opening his mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it, and snapped it shut again. He contented himself with glaring whole-heartedly at Gabriel before stalking back to the table and flopping down unceremoniously next to Castiel. Gabriel rolled his eyes before heading back to the table himself.

The rest of the night passed relatively uneventfully. They all took it upon themselves to get piss drunk and have some much needed fun.

In two hours, Gabriel had learned two things.

One, Sam is a lightweight. The man is tall as a damn tree and buff as hell, but give him three mugs of beer and he's gone.

Two, Sam is a handsy drunk. This fact Gabriel was delighted to learn about. Sam apparently couldn't help but hug, grab, or touch whoever was nearest at the time. Seeing as Gabriel was all but cuddled up to Sam's side, he found himself the play toy for one intoxicated moose.

Now, this wasn't to say that Gabriel was completely sober at the time. No, he was thoroughly trashed as well, he had just always had a firmer grasp on reality while drunk than most- meaning, he could still think while everyone else just had brain soup.

Except right now, Sam's hand happened to be resting pretty high on Gabriel's thigh, and his brain has decided to short-circuit for the time being. Sam's going on about some guy he met who did some thing, Gabriel's not paying attention. He's focusing on the warmth of Sam's hand on his leg, and nothing else. He's rudely snapped out of his thoughts when Sam shakes his shoulder.

"Gabriel." Gabriel thinks Sam calls his name, but his words are so slurred it's hard to tell.

"Gabriel, we're leaving now." This makes Gabriel's brain come to attention, however.

"Like hell you are. You're both too drunk to actually drive anywhere. We're all going back to my apartment and we're all going to wake up together and whine collectively about our respective headaches from hell. Now march." Gabriel shoves Sam out of the booth and motions for Dean and Castiel to follow.

Sam giggles- he fucking giggles like the fourth grade girl he is, and hell if Gabriel doesn't find that the most adorable thing ever- and replies with a "pushy."

"Yeah, yeah. Now walk, my house is one block away and we're gonna make it there without anyone puking on my shoes. Deal?"

Without waiting for an answer, Gabriel grabs Sam's hand and pulls him out of the bar. Sam dutifully follows, looking like a lost puppy, and Gabriel almost whimpers. Alright, so being drunk makes him a little sappy and emotional. Sue him.

When they get back to Gabriel's apartment, he points Dean and Castiel to the living room, telling them they're gonna have to share the pull out couch. They don't seem to mind very much. Dean doesn't seem to mind anything at this point, really. He must have downed at least seven beers, still angry about the little trick Gabriel pulled. But the older Winchester wasn't really his concern right now, so he just turns and drags Sam off to his bedroom.

He lives in a one bedroom one bath apartment, so he doesn't have any extra beds to spare. And boy, he has never been so glad of how small his house is. He could always upgrade, his show brings in a decent flow of money, but he likes his apartment. It's… homey. And he gets to share a bed with sasquatch when he's drunk, apparently. He's still thanking the gods for that one.

"Alright, Sammy. You're stuck with me tonight." Gabriel sits on the edge of the bed and takes off his shoes, then his socks, before he notices Sam just standing there watching him. He sighs.

"Come on, Samsquatch. You can't sleep in those." He gets up and drags Sam over the bed, pushing him down and pulling his shoes off for him. When he goes to pull off Sam's pants- forcibly not thinking of any innuendo, but sweet lord, is it hard- Sam keeps squirming.

"Stop moving, jesus. You're making this harder than it has to be."

"'M tired." Sam whines, pouting. Gabriel is so glad he has control over his urges when he's drunk, otherwise he would have bit that pout away as soon as it appeared. Instead, he just sighed.

"I know. The sooner we get these off, the sooner we can sleep." Sam grudgingly allows Gabriel to finish undressing them both. Once they're both down to their boxers, they slip under the covers, Gabriel keeping a strict half-foot barrier between them. Gabriel quickly falls asleep to the steady thump of Sam's heart, and the soft noise of Sam's breathing.

The first thing Sam notices when he wakes up is how content he is. It shouldn't be strange, but it is. He feels warm and comfortable and safe. He's resistant to even open his eyes, afraid that if he pulls himself out of his half-and-half state of consciousness, the feeling will disappear. Against his will, he regains consciousness anyway, and that's when he notices the second thing- he isn't alone.

He currently has his arms full of a sleeping Gabriel. And now, the inevitable pounding of his head comes into focus. He winces and moves one arm to cradle his head, stirring the other man that had been previously curled into his side. Gabriel stretches like a cat, and blinks a few times, before he realizes exactly what's going on.

"Sam, when did you turn into an octopus?" Gabriel attempts to give Sam a smirk, but the yawn that soon followed ruined the effect. The yawn apparently triggered Gabriel's headache, and the man whimpered and groaned his discontent. He turned so his face was smushed into the pillow, not making any attempts to release himself from Sam's arms surrounding him.

"Jesus Christ. How much did we drink last night?" Gabriel's voice was muffled by the pillow, and Sam tried to smile- he really did- but his throbbing temples transformed it into more of a grimace. Once Gabriel's question got through his headache and entered his brain, he began to wonder what actually happened last night that led to him and Gabriel cuddling.

With a start, he pulled down the covers. Yep, he still had clothes on. Barely, but he had them. That was a good sign- it'd be kind of awkward if he had sex with his only friend other than his brother.

"I forgot how much hangovers sucked ass. It's been a while since I drank last." Gabriel snorted and turned his head so he was facing Sam.

"Yeah, I could tell. That's why I invited you, kiddo. You needed to have some fun." Sam actually managed a small smile before his head reminded him that smiling was not allowed. Gabriel gave him a sympathetic look.

"If you think your headache is bad, wait until you go find your brother. He drank at least twice as much as you did." Sam thought Gabriel was trying to cheer him up by telling him this, but he just groaned. Gabriel furrowed his brows in question.

"He's gonna be bitching about it all day now." Sam grumbled out. For the first time, Sam realized that it was morning. Morning meant classes.

"Shit!" Sam shot up straight, getting a large wave of pain for his troubles. "What time is it? I have classes, shit, this is bad!"

Gabriel just tugged on Sam's arm until he was lying down again. Sam only let himself be pulled down because he hurt too much to protest.

"Calm down, Sammy, it's Saturday. You don't have any classes for two days. Now lay back down, I'm cold." Gabriel mumbled and scooted closer to Sam, who wrapped his arms around the smaller man without even thinking. Gabriel gave a happy sigh and laid his head on Sam's chest.

This should be weird, cuddling with a man you hardly know. But it wasn't. It just felt right. And Sam was more than happy to ignore his pain in favor of falling back asleep, hand resting lightly on Gabriel's chest over his heart.

When Gabriel awoke for the second time, his head felt much better than before, but his mouth still tasted gross. But he couldn't bring himself to care, at the moment. He had Sam wrapped around him, still sleeping, and he was warm and cozy. He thinks he could spend forever just lying right here. He's disappointed when Sam rouses only moments later. When Sam opens his eyes he simply looks at Gabriel for a minute before stretching and sitting up.

"'Mmmm, what time is it?" Sam's question comes out almost as a groan, and he can hear Sam's limbs popping and cracking as he stretches them out. Gabriel forces himself to look away and picks up his phone. He clicks the little button on the side so it'll show him the time.

"It is… 11:28." Gabriel looks back at Sam and finds the taller man's mouth slightly open. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just… I haven't woken up this late in months." Now it was Gabriel's turn to gape.

"Months? What's the latest you've slept recently?" Sam thinks it over for a moment before responding.

"Eight thirty, maybe?" Gabriel threw Sam a disgusted face.

"Kid, I haven't woken up before nine since I can't remember when. Waking up that early on a Saturday is a sin. An unforgivable one, at that." Sam just chuckles and whacks Gabriel on the side of the head with a pillow. Gabriel narrows his eyes.

"So that's how you're gonna play, huh?" Gabriel doesn't waste any time tackling Sam back onto the bed and sits on his thighs. He digs his fingers into Sam's sides right below his ribcage, drawing giggles and spastic limb flailing from the figure sprawled out beneath him. He gasps out pleas to stop, but Gabriel pays them no attention, continuing the torture.

"Do you give up?" Gabriel asks, giving Sam no break to answer. He continues to trash and giggle, but he eventually chokes out a yes. And Gabriel's not cruel, so he lets up and flops down next to Sam on the bed. He waits as Sam fights to catch his breath, clutching at his sides.

"I didn't even know I was ticklish." Sam looked over to Gabriel looking amused but concerned, and Gabriel chuckled.

"Well now you know. You're welcome." Sam snorts, then falls quiet. They simply lay there in amiable silence until they hear a loud pained moan coming from the living room. They turn to each other with matching grins.

"Looks like your brother's up. Let's go annoy him shall we?" Gabriel asks. Sam gets a devilish glint in his eye.

"Of course." Sam threw his long legs over the side of the bed and stood. Gabriel just now remembered that neither of them had real clothes on, just boxers and tee shirts. But Sam either didn't notice or didn't mind, and walks right on out to the living room. He's not about to remind Sam to put some clothes on, so he just follows right after him down the hallway and into the living room.


	3. 3

Sam padded into the living room where Dean and Cas laid, keeping relatively quiet as not to disturb Castiel too much. He wasn't worried too much about Dean; he was going to bitch about it all day anyway, but he figured he may as well make a good impression on Cas.

Gabriel didn't seem to be of the same mindset. He strode into the room, opened up the blinds, and turned on the coffee-maker.

"Rise and shine, boys!" Gabriel yelled from the kitchen.

Sam held back a snicker as he watched both Dean and Cas shoot Gabriel a murderous look. Dean looked around for something to throw, but gave up his search quickly in favor of pulling the blankets up past his head and grumbling darkly.

"What time is it?" Dean tried to ask from his position under the blankets, but it came out muffled and sounded nothing like his original question. Luckily, Sam was fluent in Dean Language and answered with ease.

"Just past 11:30." Sam called out as he moved to join Gabe in the kitchen. Gabriel looked back and nodded as Sam entered the room.

"Hey, kiddo. Want some bacon?" Gabriel held the sizzling pan towards Sam, causing his mouth to water.

"Heck yeah, I do." Sam reached to grab a piece before Gabriel lightly smacked his hand away.

"Nu-uh, not done yet. Unless you want salmonella. But trust me- puking all day, so not hot." Gabriel smirked before returning the pan to the stove. Sam just nodded and hit Gabriel playfully on the shoulder before grabbing two glasses of water, and walking back out to the living room.

"Here, drink." Sam grinned as Dean grabbed one glass with a grumbled, 'I know how to nurse a hangover, dumbass.' Cas simply took one and nodded his thanks. Sam shifted awkwardly while the two downed their drinks, eventually settling for sitting on the floor cross-legged.

They all sat there in silence, occasionally interrupted by the sound of bacon popping. It wasn't a comfortable silence, though; he could practically feel the tension between his brother and Castiel. Not to mention their knees were blatantly touching, and Dean was never one for physical contact.

He gave his brother a strange look, only to have it returned with a frown, which quickly morphed into a smirk. This couldn't be good.

"Hey Sammy, where are your clothes?" Only then did Sam look down at himself and notice that he was wearing nothing but boxers and a tank top. At least he didn't wear his briefs last night, he thinks. Nonetheless, he still turns red as a beet and glares at Dean.

"Some people like to be comfortable when they sleep, you know?"

"Yeah, I think I'd prefer to keep my clothes on when in bed with a stranger, regardless of comfort." Dean just chuckled, the bastard. He thought he was smart.

"Yeah? You weren't saying that when you brought that girl home from the bar last week." Sam laughed loudly as Dean's smug expression turned to one of embarrassment and anger. It was at that moment that Gabe decided to stroll into the room carrying a large pile of bacon.

"What's so funny, Sasquatch?" Gabe grinned as he sat down next to Sam, offering him the plate of food. Sam snatched up a few strips and handed the plate over to Dean, ignoring another of his smug looks after seeing that Gabriel was stripped down to his boxers as well. Sam rolled his eyes and leaned back, chewing contentedly on his bacon.

And if his shoulder was touching Gabriel's slightly, well, he always was one for physical contact.

After another sufficiently awkward hour or so, they exchanged goodbyes and made plans for another get-together. Both pairs of brothers left their meeting with big, dopey smiles on their faces.

Sam let himself ride the high that Gabriel seemed to give him until he got into the car with his brother. As soon as they were on the road, he started questioning Sam.

"So, Sammy, what were you doing in the same bed as Gabriel?" Dean smirked as Sam rolled his eyes.

"Same thing you were doing in the same bed as Castiel- sleeping, I hope." Now it was Dean's turn to roll his eyes. Sam did notice his face turned a bit red, however.

"Why were you half naked?" Sam sighed in exasperation and started fidgeting with a loose string on his shirt.

"I told you Dean, to be comfortable. I don't know about you, but I don't really want to sleep in jeans."

Dean seemed to relent on the subject, thankfully, and the car went blissfully quiet.

For about thirty seconds.

"So… how about Gabriel?" Dean shot a cocky grin in Sam's direction and Sam ran his hand over his face.

"I could ask you the same about Castiel." Dean sobered up and shook his head.

"Don't." Dean warned in a low voice. Sam held up his hands, and the car went silent again, only this time it lingered until they got to the house.

When they stepped inside, they plopped down onto the couch, watching pointless movies until the light stopped filtering in through the windows. As soon as the clock turned eleven, they each headed to their respective rooms for a night's sleep in their own beds.

Sam fell asleep thinking about Gabriel, hugging his pillow tightly, imagining the smaller man in his arms in place of it.

\---

Sam woke up around 10 o'clock, which was a wonder in itself, to his phone chirping. He groaned and got up to check it; three texts from an unknown number. Furrowing his brows, he opened the messages. Immediately, his face broke into a wide grin.

hey kiddo. just wanted 2 let u no that u left ur shirt at my house

that last msg sounds dirty

o its gabriel btw

Sam chuckles and answers right away.

How did you get my number?

It only took a few seconds for him to receive a reply.

i txted myself frm ur phone when u were sleeping

Sam laughs out loud before quickly typing in his response.

Alright, when can I get it back?

He closes his phone and walks out to the kitchen, nodding at a sleep-ruffled Dean on the couch. He's making himself some cereal when his phone chirps again.

come 2 my work 2moro nd ill give it 2 u

Sam couldn't help the goofy smile that graced his face after reading this, and happily went about making some coffee. Dean glanced over from his spot in the living room and gave Sam an appraising look.

"What's got you all smiley, Sasquatch?" Dean grumbled, clearly irritated by Sam's audacity to be cheerful before noon. Sam just continued smiling, fiddling with the coffee pot.

"Nothing." He was hoping Dean would be too tired to question him further. He had no such luck, however.

"Bullshit. That's not a nothing grin." He slowly rose off the couch, limbs popping and cracking, and walked over towards Sam.

"Come on, lemme see the phone." Dean held out his hand and Sam snorted.

"No, dude, it's my phone." Sam tried to move away from him, but Dean was faster. He reached out and plucked the phone from Sam's fingers, opening the message against Sam's protests. Slowly his grin turned feral, and Sam quickly snatched the phone back, resolutely avoiding Dean's eyes.

"Oh man, Sammy, you got it bad for this guy, don'tcha?" Dean drawled out his words, enjoying every moment of Sam's discomfort.

Sam fidgeted for a moment, eyes jumping from one place to another, never settling on Dean's face. "No I don't, Dean. Shut up." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, real convincing. Why don't you look me in the eyes and tell me that, then, hm?"

Sam finally rested his eyes on Dean's and opened his mouth to talk, knowing full well that he'd never be able to say the lie right to Dean's face and make him believe it. He almost sighed in relief when the coffee pot announced that it was finished, momentarily attracting Dean's attention. Sam rapidly poured himself a cup and retreated into his room before Dean could realize he ever left.

It was a lazy Sundays, as Sundays never were for him. Usually, he'd spend the whole weekend working on papers for law school or studying. This weekend, he hadn't even cracked open a book once. He couldn't concentrate on anything. He'd start something, then five minutes later his thoughts would drift to how adorable Gabriel looked all sleep-tussled, or how perfectly he made his coffee, or… just anything about Gabriel.

The last time Sam could remember feeling like this was with Jessica, and he's not even sure it was this bad.

Around one in the afternoon, when he couldn't take the boredom anymore, he decided to just lay on his bed and text Gabriel. Luckily, Gabriel didn't seem to have anything to do either, so he responded fairly quickly.

It wasn't like they were talking about anything important. Mainly they just shared random little comments and facts about themselves. Sam wanted to get to know Gabe better, and through the messages he learned that Gabe inhales sugar like oxygen, hates anything green (even green M&M's apparently), and is "actually normal height, thank you very much."

It wasn't until Dean opened the door, bitching about how Sam hadn't made him dinner yet, that Sam realized just how long he had spent texting the other man. It hadn't seemed like that long, but he guessed the 300 or so text messages were a fair indication of the amount of time that had passed.

Due to his new-found lazy streak, Sam decided to take Dean out to a diner for dinner, much to Dean's surprise. Sam usually objected to eating at diners, preferring to grill up some chicken and have a nice salad on the side. Sam never was one for sweets or greasy foods, contrary to Dean's absolute idolization of pie; his mother even has a video of Dean eating candy on Halloween while Sam munches away on some lettuce.

So, Sam supposed Dean was justified in his astonishment. Hell, Sam was kind of surprised. But he just dragged both of them to the nearest place with food and placated Dean with all kinds of fatty things. Sam got the healthiest thing on the menu, forcing his mind to think about something other than golden eyes and matching hair.

\---

Monday morning, Gabriel awoke feeling happier than has been in a while- excluding Saturday, of course. He didn't think it was even completely legal to be this content at nine on a Monday morning.

Sam was coming to his work today. He smiled to himself before rolling out of bed and into the shower.

His show was currently over for the season, and all that was left to do was sit in a boring office all day and take care of whatever the idiots in charge of running the show couldn't do.

If Gabriel was completely honest with himself, he'd admit he purposely hid Sam's shirt so he would have to come and visit him. But he wasn't quite ready to admit to being that desperate just yet, so he was going with Sam conveniently left his shirt at his house after Gabriel accidentally threw his old shirt on top of it.

Sounds about right.

Either way, Sam was going to be at his work in about two hours, and hopefully Gabriel would be able to convince him to go to lunch. There was a new little bakery down the street; Sam seems like the type of guy to appreciate freshly baked bread. Maybe they'd get a few muffins and some coffee, make it a-

No. Nope, Gabriel was not calling it a date this early on. So the kid did some drunken cuddling, Gabriel can't say that he hadn't done crazier things while drunk. Sam might just be a friendly guy.

But that didn't stop Gabe from putting on his best suit, the one that, in his opinion, made his ass look fantastic.

Once he got to the office, he told his secretary- a nice, yet very strange girl named Becky- to call him if a giant comes in today. She doesn't even look phased which; okay, she reads so many comics and books you'd think she'd be running around in a costume by now, so he can't really be surprised.

He's only in his office for about an hour before Becky calls him, talking so fast he can barely understand her. He hears "humungous" and "shaggy" and "super hot" though, so he assumes she's talking about Sam, and quickly grabs the bag with Sam's shirt in it before heading to the lobby.

It's not hard to spot Sam once he's down there; he's entire heads and shoulders over everyone else. He also sees Becky absolutely fawning over him. However, he's pleased to notice that Sam doesn't look exactly happy over the attention. He finds himself sporting a huge smile as he saunters over towards them.

"Becky, give the man a chance to breathe." Gabriel smirks as Becky turns red and mumbles apologies before returning to her desk. He turns back to Sam as soon as he sees her pick up her comic book and resume reading.

"Here's your shirt Sammy boy. But while I've got you here… you doing anything today?" He didn't wait for Sam to answer before shoving the bag into Sam's hands and grinning even more widely.

"Great! We're going to lunch. Come on." He turned on the spot and headed for the door, leaving Sam to bumble awkwardly after him.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm really nervous about this because it's my first multi chaptered fic so uh  
> i hope it lives up to standards~  
> here's to me actually staying on schedule and writing this sucker


End file.
